Carrier transport characteristics of H-terminated diamond films prepared using molecular hydrogen and atomic hydrogen

The H-terminated diamond films, which exhibit high surface conductivity, have been used in high-frequency and high-power electronic devices. In this paper, the surface conductive channel on specimens from the same diamond film was obtained by hydrogen plasma treatment and by heating under a hydrogen atmosphere, respectively, and the surface carrier transport characteristics of both samples were compared and evaluated. The results show that the carrier mobility and carrier density of the sample treated by hydrogen plasma are 15 cm2·V−1·s−1 and greater than 5 × 1012 cm−2, respectively, and that the carrier mobilities measured at five different areas are similar. Compared to the hydrogen-plasma-treated specimen, the thermally hydrogenated specimen exhibits a lower surface conductivity, a carrier density one order of magnitude lower, and a carrier mobility that varies from 2 to 33 cm2·V−1·s−1. The activated hydrogen atoms restructure the diamond surface, remove the scratches, and passivate the surface states via the etching effect during the hydrogen plasma treatment process, which maintains a higher carrier density and a more stable carrier mobility.